


40m²

by winterdesu



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Romance, Sasuke is emotionally constipated, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Slow Build, Slow Burn, my boys need help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-24 02:27:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13203816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterdesu/pseuds/winterdesu
Summary: Naruto and Sasuke cohabitate."What happens now?" Sasuke wondered aloud.Naruto laughed - the sound clear and warm like sun-drenched crystals. He gestured widely at the unfurnished flat with a flourish. “We move in,” and pointed at the pile of furniture and boxes still unmoved from their place at the door. "Let's fill this place up, Sasuke."





	40m²

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bismarckenterprise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bismarckenterprise/gifts).



> For my dear friend Verb. You're a real blessing ♡
> 
> A couple things to note for this fic:
> 
> 1) Canon divergence: Chapter 700, The Last and Boruto are disregarded.  
> 2) Neji survives.  
> 3) Sasuke does not leave for his journey of redemption.
> 
> (don't get me wrong though i've been enjoying recent developments in Boruto but sometimes ~~i mean most of the time~~ i wish sasunaru were canon

Sidestepping the boxes stacked next to the doorway, they stopped and took in the flat they were given.

 

There was a pregnant silence, then Naruto announced from in front of him, "I imagined something bigger."

 

Sasuke grunted noncommittally and slowly ventured into the living area.

 

Naruto was right. There was barely enough space to fit the small kotatsu they were provided with near the door leading to the kitchen. The empty space beside the glass balcony doors should be about the right size for a television set and a bookcase. The balcony itself was painfully narrow and overlooked the Hokage Mountain with its five engravings of village leader faces. There was scaffolding next to Tsunade's features - probably what was soon to become a rendition of Hatake Kakashi's face.

 

Behind him, Naruto's footsteps headed towards the inner rooms of the flat, most likely to explore the bathroom and bedrooms. Sasuke found himself turning, unbidden, to join him.

 

"I call dibs on this room," Naruto called, turning to face him with a wide grin, jabbing his thumb at the room on their right. A quick glance confirmed Sasuke's guess. It was the one facing the same way as the balcony.

 

"Fine." Sasuke replied. "I don't really care either way." The two rooms were about the same size. The only difference was the scenery, really.

 

"Thanks, Sasuke," Naruto said, and when Sasuke looked at him, there was a strange smile on his face. Why it looked strange, Sasuke could not quite pinpoint the reason.

 

He turned away to inspect the bathroom door handle instead. "Whatever," he told it.

 

Finished exploring their new living quarters, they stood in the middle of the empty living room again, surrounded by the bleak undecorated walls, their breathing echoing eerily in the too-hollow flat, yet to be filled with the furniture piled outside the front door.

 

There was nothing to look at except the splash of colour that was Naruto, standing next to him in an ugly faded orange shirt and green shorts, blond hair sticking out in every direction and his blue eyes twin pools of warmth - all of this among bland white walls and floorboards the colour of parchment.

 

Naruto's presence was simply... vivid. There was no other way to describe it. Sasuke struggled briefly to wrench his gaze away. He abruptly found himself feeling self-conscious, standing beside the vibrance that was Naruto with his plain black clothes and ashen heart.

 

"It's a little surreal, isn't it?" Naruto nudged what remained of Sasuke's arm with his. He turned to meet a soft but slightly faraway gaze.

 

"What is?"

 

"All of this. You coming back as a free man. The war. And this," Naruto grinned a little mischievously at him and wriggled his arm stub, wincing when he hit a bad angle.

 

Sasuke's own stump twitched involuntarily. Which brought Sasuke back to the reason why he and Naruto were moving in together in the first place: Tsunade and her idea of having two similarly handicapped people live together and help each other out while she developed prosthetics.

 

It was not as if either of them were completely vulnerable with an arm missing. Yes, they were prohibited from using chakra for the time being, but they were taught to handle weapons ambidextrously from a young age to start with.

 

But it was so strange, how it would still hurt where was nothing left but ragged, half-healed flesh and splintered bone.

 

"Phantom pains," Tsunade had told them when they were lying in their hospital cots, making measurements and calculations while Sakura poked and prodded at their slowly-but-surely-healing injuries. "The feeling of pain in an absent limb or a portion of a limb. At least eighty percent of amputees experience it, so I'm pretty sure you will come across it at some point. If that happens, just holler for me."

Sasuke had felt it a day later, slow-burning pain that intensified with every breath he took, what should have been his shattered arm set aflame with agony. He had tried to ignore it. He tried to keep it inside and ride it out quietly, but miraculously Naruto knew, lying half-asleep in his bed, drowsy from medicine.

 

"Sasuke," Naruto had said. "Sasuke. You're not okay." Then he had yelled for Sakura and Tsunade, grabbed his right hand with his left, his fingers soothingly cool in comparison to the burning that should not have been there.

 

And from then on, everything was a dizzying blur. Tsunade and Sakura's tense, terse words, as well as the foul-smelling cup lifted to his lips. Sasuke had barely registered the taste of the medicine, all the noises around him an incomprehensible buzz. All he had felt was Naruto's gentle, firm grip on the hand he still had, cool like balm but steady like an anchor.

Back in their old Team Seven days, Naruto had only ever made him feel like fire, hot and angry and anything but calm, Sasuke reflected as he stood in the bare living room with the very same yet very different Naruto - the one who had held his hand throughout the entire duration of his agony.

 

What would happen now that they were in such close proximity of each other after so many years of separation?

 

"What happens now?" Sasuke wondered aloud.

 

Naruto laughed - the sound clear and warm like sun-drenched crystals. He gestured widely at the unfurnished flat with a flourish. “We move in,” and pointed at the pile of furniture and boxes still unmoved from their place at the door. "Let's fill this place up, Sasuke."

 

***

 

Naruto still snored when he slept soundly, was absolutely terrible at remembering to take out the trash, had apparently no cooking ability beyond instant ramen and white rice yet religiously watered their single houseplant, which he had named Tatsu-san, and carefully put it in a patch of sunlight on the balcony.

 

He was surprisingly neat with laundry as well - he arranged his underwear according to colour and folded them into impeccable little squares single-handedly. He even offered to fold Sasuke’s clothes for him, which Sasuke had grudgingly accepted in return for hanging and sorting the laundry.

 

Naruto also took to dragging them out for Ichiraku’s at every chance he got. Sasuke was frankly not a huge fan, but Naruto’s pleading eyes were surprisingly hard to refuse.

 

***

 

The only thing Naruto got more excited over than Ichiraku ramen was Sasuke’s cooking.

 

“What are you making tonight?” Naruto asked, leaning on the counter to meet Sasuke’s eyes with eager, shining ones.

 

“Tomato and egg. It’s not Japanese.” Sasuke hesitated, feeling a lump rise in this throat before continuing, “My brother had it once on a mission and learned how to make it for me.”

 

Naruto made a noise of understanding. “I'd be honoured to try it. Let me help out, Sasuke!”

 

“No.”

“Please?”

 

“ _No_.”

 

“I promise I'll follow your instructions.”

 

Sasuke could not really say no to that sincerity.

 

“Fine.” He gestured at the pile of groceries that they had previously bought with Sakura and Sai’s help. “Get the rice started, hand me a knife and the tomatoes.”

 

Wordlessly, Naruto did as he was told while Sasuke prepared the workspace. When he returned to his side with said knife and tomatoes, he handed them to him and carefully held the tomatoes by their sides as Sasuke cut them into chunks just as carefully before he put them aside into a bowl.

 

“Two eggs… please.”

 

A warm hand placed a freshly-washed egg into Sasuke’s outstretched palm. He fetched another bowl and cracked the egg against the rim of it. Naruto silently handed him the second one and he repeated the same motions.

 

“Chopsticks?” Naruto waved a pair in his direction.

 

Sasuke nodded and accepted them. From his side, Naruto’s left hand snaked from behind his waist to hold the bowl steady. Sasuke gestured wordlessly with chopsticks in hand. _At an angle._

 

Naruto understood and adjusted, then Sasuke started to beat the eggs.

 

“Salt and pepper.”

 

Naruto left his side momentarily to fetch the seasoning, scooped out a large spoonful of salt and looked at Sasuke questioningly. “This much?”

 

“An eighth of that.”

 

They continued cooking in this fashion, stir-frying first the egg in the pan then the tomatoes with sugar, Naruto handing him utensils and ingredients when he needed them.

 

“Last step,” Sasuke said, adding the eggs back into the pan of tomatoes. At the same time, the rice cooker dinged softly. The fragrance of freshly-cooked rice mixed in with the sweet tomato-egg scent that had been filling the kitchen.

 

“Smells soooo good,” Naruto whisper-moaned.

 

“Now you know how to make it too.”

 

Naruto stared at Sasuke with wide-eyed wonder. “You’re right! I’ll be the one to make it next time!”

 

“Try not to poison us.”

 

***

 

They cooked together like that ever since.

 

Sasuke’s excuse was that it was to keep Naruto from killing them both with food poisoning, but the rhythm of them cooking together like this was strangely comforting.

 

Besides, Naruto could not crack an egg to save his life, but the way he seasoned their food was _perfect_.

 

***

 

Sasuke started awake at three in the morning, choking on a sob that had been halfway out of his mouth.

 

Blinking the lingering images of Itachi's tear-filled Sharingan out of his own wet eyes, Sasuke brushed a sleeve-covered wrist across his face to dry it.

 

He took a deep breath and focused on the white painted ceiling above him - studying the play of mercury moonlight and the powdered-charcoal shadows of the window frames that splayed across the empty expanse of it.

 

He was doing the right thing now. Itachi has moved on to a better place.

 

_I should be making more progress._

 

_Can I?_

 

The back of his throat began to feel dry from his gasps. Pushing the blankets off him, he swung his legs off the bed and stood up slowly. He took a few more deep breaths to steady himself and opened the door to tread quietly to the living area.

 

Halfway to the kitchen, Sasuke caught sight of an extra silhouette leaning against the closed balcony doors.

 

Naruto.

 

His slumped figure was a dark mound against the barely illuminated night sky, the contours of his cheekbones and jawline tinged silver with moonlight.

 

"Sasuke," he said, surprise and drowsiness colouring his tone.

 

"I'm thirsty," Sasuke said plainly, raising an eyebrow at Naruto. What was he doing in front of the balcony?

 

"I couldn't sleep," Naruto answered the silent question.

 

Sasuke sat himself at the low table to pour himself water from the jug and cup set, humming to show he was listening.

 

"It's just... the War took so much away. Otsutsuki Kaguya and her stupid plot for world domination. It took so much." Naruto turned away to face the world outside the apartment. "Iruka-sensei's family was killed because of it, Sandaime Hokage, Ero-sennin, my parents... Neji is still in a coma and Yamato-daicho is still in intensive care and so many more people died. So many homes were destroyed. It's not okay." Taking a shuddering breath, Naruto said more quietly, "It's not alright."

 

Sasuke took a slow drink of water and set down his ceramic cup with a soft clink. "It's not," he echoed.

 

He could still remember it after so many years: the touch of his mother’s gentle fingers atop his head, his father’s stony-faced yet nonetheless encouraging approval and the warmth of Itachi’s back against his stomach when he carried him home after a day out in the forest. Planning the coup, plotting war against the village took all these things away.

 

War took _home_ away.

 

“It won’t ever be okay again. The past.” Sasuke found himself continuing to say. “But there’s still the future.”

 

“Am I rubbing off you already?” Naruto’s answering snort was tinged with amusement, surprise and something else Sasuke could not quite identify.

 

“It would be your fault then,” Sasuke retorted without bite. “All you’ve done since moving in is assemble furniture and talk my ear off.”

 

Naruto chuckled unrepentantly. “I’ve also learned to cook something other than instant ramen and bought us a houseplant!” He waved his arms illustratively at the lone leafy pot sitting at the balcony

 

“And talked my ear off some more.”

 

“Can you blame me?” Naruto gasped indignantly. “You’re so quiet, someone needs to fill the silence, you know? With actual sounds? Not dead air?”

 

Unbridled amusement bubbled up within Sasuke, and he failed to hide the quirk of his lips.

 

Naruto noticed - of course he did - and only grinned wider at him, showing so much teeth it was starting to look just shy of creepy, but luckily nowhere close to Orochimaru’s level.

 

Sasuke closed his eyes to hide an oncoming eye roll and Naruto just started waggling his eyebrows exaggeratedly.

 

“You’re ridiculous.” _...ly cute._

 

“You know what they say? Only ridiculous people would call other people ridiculous.” Naruto stood up and went to sit next to Sasuke at the table. “But it’s okay. I promise I’ll keep it a secret… the fact you’re actually the bigger weirdo between the two of us!”

 

Naruto let out a shout of laughter when Sasuke lunged at him, putting a knee against his ribs and squishing his cheeks none-too-gently with his hand.

 

They toppled over - Sasuke on top of Naruto, whose back hit the wooden floor with a thump.

 

Sasuke was suddenly painfully aware of the fact that he was sitting astride on Naruto’s pyjama-covered thighs. Naruto’s sleekly muscled thighs.

 

He was sitting astride on Naruto’s sleekly muscled thighs and Naruto’s sleep shirt was hitched up just so from their tumble that a sliver of toned stomach was showing. And said toned stomach was mere inches away from Sasuke’s crotch.

 

 _Fuck_.

 

Naruto tried to sit up the exact moment Sasuke’s hand slipped on the floorboards. Their foreheads came together with a crack - and that was not even all of it. Naruto’s abdomen pressed snugly against Sasuke’s crotch.

 

_Naruto’s abdomen was pressed snugly against Sasuke’s crotch._

 

“Shit, sorry Sasuke- ”

 

“Naru- ”

 

Scrambling off Naruto, Sasuke tumbled back to the space next to his companion, landing a little roughly on the stump that was his right arm, and swore softly under his breath as he slowly shuffled into a lying position on Naruto’s right.

 

Beside him, Naruto lay back down as well, rubbing at the spot where their heads collided with a pout on his lips.

 

Sasuke abruptly realised that their positions were not unlike that fateful day, their broken sides facing, but Naruto staring up at the ceiling of the living room, Sasuke unable to tear his eyes off Naruto, silently marvelling at the lines of his cheekbones and the dark gold fan of his eyelashes as he blinked. His eyes dropped to to his lips on their own accord.

 

“You’re staring,” Naruto said without looking at him. “Quit being creepy, Sasu-chan, your gloomy emo days are over.”

 

“I am not,” Sasuke retorted quickly, in reality unable to take his eyes off Naruto. “And I did not have an emo phase.”

 

“Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night. I still like you anyways.”

 

His heart stopped.

 

“Sasuke, you’re my best friend. Next time, when something is bothering you and you want to talk about it, come to the living room. I’ll be here.”

 

“… you too.”

 

“What?”

 

“You too. I’ll… be here too. Like today.”

 

“Thanks.” He could hear the smile in Naruto’s voice.

 

Sasuke snorted, but continued to lie quietly next to Naruto, listening to each steady inhale and exhale.

 

Slowly but surely, Sasuke was lulled to sleep as Naruto’s breathing deepened.

 

When he next opened his eyes, it was to a sore back from sleeping on the floor, blond hair haloed by sunrise, and a soft, accepting smile he would not mind waking up to for the rest of his life.

 

***

 

Sasuke took that thought back when Naruto declared during one quiet afternoon that he had decided to fill the balcony with as many plants as the laws of physics would allow him.

 

***

 

By now Sasuke should have learned not to assume Naruto, Konoha’s beloved Number One Unpredictable, Noisy Ninja, would be joking about _houseplants_.

 

Whenever they had time from sorting out the documents left behind by the Uchihas and Naruto had time away from studying politics, his ramen-loving housemate would haul Sasuke out to the market, get their groceries and pick an additional potted plant to bring home.

 

By the end of their first two months in the apartment, some of the walls were still bare, but the balcony was halfway to becoming a greenhouse.

 

***

 

Sasuke was in the middle of laying out some records on the Uchihas’ possessions onto the living room floor when a sharp pain shot up the arm that wasn’t there anymore.

 

He dropped the stack of papers as he kneeled from the agony.

 

“Shit, Sasuke, is it-” Naruto immediately set down his own stack and crouched down in front of him.

 

“It is,” he replied between gritted teeth, and settled cross-legged at the low table, laying a cheek on the cool surface. It was not as intense as it was in the hospital, but enough to force him to sit and rest for a while.

 

Naruto poured him water in one of the ceramic cups, put in the herb mixture Sakura had given them for this exact purpose and nudged him gently in the side.

 

He struggled to sit up, nodded his thanks, and threw the medicine back, shuddering minutely at the foul taste.

 

“C’mon, let’s talk and distract you until the meds kick in.”

 

“Talk about what? Like how there are way too many houseplants?”

 

Naruto plopped down across him. “But I love them! All of them! You only love the cherry tomato one and it hasn’t even flowered yet. They all deserve your love.”

 

“I tolerate them because you do. I water them every morning with that ugly water can.”

 

Naruto had gone out to the market just a month ago when the Kazekage travelled to Konoha for a trade meeting, and naturally, Naruto went to show him around. He returned at dinner time carrying a frog-shaped monstrosity of a water can, with Sabaku no Gaara trailing behind him, asking at the top of his lungs if Gaara could join them for dinner and look, look what Gaara got him! Wasn’t it just _adorable_?

 

Sasuke did not find the Kazekage’s gift adorable.

 

“Awww shut up Sasuke, you’re just jealous Gaara got me such a cute gift and you didn’t receive anything.”

 

“I’m not. He’s your friend, not mine.” The pain was fading now, and Sasuke was feeling just the slightest bit woozy - the good kind of woozy. “ _You’re_ my best friend though.”

 

“Yeah, I know,” Naruto said. He sounded like he was really happy about it. Sasuke was pretty happy about it too. Naruto was one of the most extraordinary people he had ever met. He had the best laugh, dragged his undeserving ass back to Konoha, bought him a cherry tomato plant and could make egg with tomato the exact way he liked it. Naruto was his _current_ _favourite person_ in the world. _God._

 

Upon this revelation, Sasuke decided to take hold of Naruto’s hand, which was spread innocently on the table.

 

“Sasuke…” Naruto’s eyes were brilliant and blue and holding him like this - his flesh hand over Naruto’s - made Sasuke’s chest tighten in the most curious way.

 

“I made us blast our arms to bits,” Sasuke found himself saying. “I’ve been wondering…” his throat closed up, and he clutched at Naruto tighter. It would help both of them hurt less, right? If he held on and never let go again. Maybe he even made Naruto felt the way he made him felt.

 

Naruto gripped him just as tightly. Maybe this would really help them hurt less, if Naruto was doing it as well. Naruto made a lot of good life choices. “It’s okay. I kind of participated in the blasting-arms-to-bits thing too.”

 

“Still, I - ” Sasuke’s eyes were stinging. For a moment he wondered if he had overused his Sharingan again, but his vision blurred with tears and not blood.

 

_Ah._

 

“I…” He tried again even though it felt like there was a snake constricting around his chest. “I almost ruined everything.”

 

He could only lie there as his vision swam with tears. For a brief moment, all he wanted to do was to rip his undeserving body apart and claw the remaining stump of his arm to shreds. Itachi was dead, Sasuke almost killed his _current favourite person_ in the _world_ , and he did not deserve a second chance, war hero or not.

 

Naruto’s hand left his for a moment, leaving Sasuke grasping at thin air before his blunt nails dug into the palm of his hand, then it was Naruto’s warm, solid presence right next to him, pulling him into his arms.

 

A shuddering breath left him.

 

“It’s all passed. But it matters to you so it’ll matter to me too. Like the houseplants.”

 

Like the houseplants!

 

It was as if something loosened its vice grip on Sasuke’s heart. Of course! It was so much more easier to understand when Naruto put it this way. He was always so much better at this emotional stuff. “You’re amazing. We’re… like the houseplants.”

 

Naruto started laughing, but what he was laughing about Sasuke had no idea.

 

“You’re high, Sasuke.”

 

“I’m only high when I’m riding Taka,” Sasuke protested.

 

Naruto laughed harder.

 

Sasuke could not help but smile a little. He loved hearing Naruto’s laughter. It was warm like… like how they were still pressed against one another. “Don’t laugh so much. We’re like houseplants so you can’t laugh too much, or else- ” His trail of thought halted abruptly and Sasuke could not think anymore.

 

“Or else what?” Naruto sounded eager to know more, but all Sasuke wanted to do was to stay in Naruto’s arms and close his eyes, so he did exactly that.

 

Sasuke woke alone on the floor, sunset pouring in bronze rivers from the open balcony windows that painted the ceiling gold, the sounds of the tap running and vegetables being chopped coming from the kitchen. He had no recollection of anything besides him telling Naruto his water can was ugly after he took the medicine, and funnily enough, the sentence “like the houseplants” resounding in his head like a mantra.

 

***

 

After they received their prosthetics from Tsunade and recovered more - enough to start training again, they spent progressively less time in the flat, preferring to wake early so they could practice using chakra again in the empty training grounds, then returned to the apartment to continue sorting out the mind-bogglingly huge amount of what was left of the Uchiha documents.

 

Eventually, Tsunade deemed them fit to return to regular duty and handed them off to Kakashi, who actually took it easy with them.

 

For the while, Kakashi gave them easy stuff - escort missions that allowed them to go around foreign places together and admire the scenery. They often had time to sightsee when they were done with their missions too.

 

More times than not, they would finish a mission and Sasuke would let Naruto drag them off to collect a seed from a native plant so he could pot and grow them in the apartment.

 

They were never really in a hurry to get back.

 

Sasuke would stab himself in the chest before admitting aloud that he was perfectly comfortable at Naruto’s side.

 

***

 

Naruto was potting his newest plant at the balcony.

 

From where he sat at the low table, facing towards the balcony to take advantage of the afternoon sunlight, Sasuke had a very wonderfully distracting view of Naruto’s physique surrounded in the emeralds and jade of leaves. The ugly frog-shaped watering can was sitting next to a half-used bag of soil lying at his side. Naruto had rolled up the short sleeves of his t-shirt, and with every hearty dig of his small shovel, his triceps would ripple beneath his golden skin, and the lines of his back muscles very visible through his white, sweat-damp clothing.

 

“The birds got the fruit plants again,” Naruto groaned for the umpteenth time since starting his garden.

 

“Hn,” Sasuke replied, tearing his eyes off Naruto to focus on the materials laid out on the table before him.

 

There was that shiny tear-shaped piece of aluminium he had picked up in Tetsu no Kuni, a thumb-sized piece of bright blue crystal extracted from a meteorite from Hoshigakure, dark red glass shards from their trip to Suna and various other small shiny objects he had quietly collected on their travels.

 

As Naruto continued to run his mouth while tending to his plants, rambling about things like pot sizes and nutrient solutions, Sasuke got to work as well. He went about carefully putting holes into the materials he had laid out, then cut off lengths of his spare wire string, threading them through the pieces of materials. The sunlight from the balcony hit the bits and pieces of shiny objects, making big and small patches of coloured light flicker across the white walls of the living room.

 

Sasuke was tying the crystal-laden wire strings to a forearm-length piece of wood when Naruto padded to the low table and poked his head over Sasuke’s shoulder curiously. “What are you making? Isn’t that a piece from that Hoshigakure meteorite we saw on that A-rank mission? And this-”

 

Wordlessly, Sasuke tied the last knot and held the finished project up in the sunlight.

 

The multi-coloured combination of glass, crystals, polished rocks and metal pieces swayed with the movement, making the light patches dance faster across the walls.

 

Naruto shut his mouth.

 

There was a moment of silence as they both watched the play of colours, the light patches’ movements slowing down until they stopped completely, staying splayed across the walls like a fractured rainbow.

 

“Beautiful,” Naruto whispered in an usually soft voice.

 

“For you,” Sasuke muttered under his breath, feeling his ears and the back of his neck start to heat.

 

“Huh?”

 

“It’s for the garden. Since you’ve been complaining about the birds.”

 

“Sasuke…” there was something that Sasuke could not name in Naruto’s tone, and it made the heat in his neck and ears intensify.

 

“Take it,” he chose to grumble instead, turning around to shove it into Naruto’s hands. “Don’t waste my efforts.”

 

“Thank you,” Naruto said in that same soft voice. “I love it.” He took the bird frightener, went out to the balcony, hung it up next to Sasuke’s growing pot of cherry tomatoes, came back inside, sat down next to Sasuke at the table, and they both watched in comfortable silence as the lights played on the walls and on the floor as the gentle wind blew.

 

***

 

Sasuke took to complaining every few days that the balcony was starting to turn into Naruto’s personal greenhouse, but he made bird frightener after bird frightener, just so Naruto could keep his garden safe.

 

***

 

On their days off, Sasuke would sit reading at the table with a study-engrossed Naruto opposite him.

 

The apartment would be quiet, save for the occasional sounds of ink and brush against paper, the rustling of leaves and flowers swaying in the breeze from the open balcony windows and the soft tinkling of the bird frighteners bumping into each other.

 

These were the times Sasuke could not help but smile a little to himself.

 

***

 

“So,” Sakura began, tipping in the pile of assorted vegetables carefully into the bubbling pot. “The prosthetics are working properly, aren’t they?”

 

“Yep! I can press my palms together behind my back even with these!” Naruto answered brightly as he left the kitchen with a humongous plate of beef strips - all of them at the perfect ratio of flesh and fat, thinly sliced and laid out in a multi-layered fan shape.

 

Kakashi whistled appreciatively at the mountain of meat. “You guys really went all out with the hot pot party, didn’t you?”

 

“Of course! Nothing less than the best for Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan!”

 

Sasuke followed Naruto out of the kitchen with umeshu and glasses, setting them in front of their guests and receiving nods of thanks.

 

Since becoming Hokage, Kakashi had been near impossible to meet up with. This little hot pot party, held at the cusp of summer, had already been postponed multiple times to accommodate all the last-minute emergencies Kakashi ended up dealing with every time.

 

Well. At least they were eating with two arms now.

 

“Anything we've been missing out on? Besides Yamato-daicho getting out at last?” Naruto asked, sitting down next to Sasuke and attacking the food already in the bubbling pot with gusto.

 

“You'll love this one,” Sakura grinned. “Neji finally woke from his coma this morning. I’m sure you're dying to see him.”

 

“Neji!” Naruto's face lit up. Sasuke allowed himself an exhale of relief. They had been worried that he might stay under for a long time. It had been over half a year after all.

 

“Hinata and Team Gai have been with him since he’s up, but it will be a while before we can let anyone else visit.”

 

“Is he doing alright?”

 

“He was a little confused at first but we explained everything. No signs of memory loss, just in need of physical rehabilitation. He’s going to be okay.”

 

“I’m so happy to hear that! Tell me when we can visit! I miss awake Neji!”

 

“Will do!” Sakura said as she swiped a piece of tofu from the pot, drowning it with sauce in her bowl. “You should’ve seen him. The moment he regained sufficient motor functions, he asked for Hinata and his team, then if his hair was a mess. Told him we already braided it so it won’t tangle and you _won’t believe the relief on his face._ ”

 

“Well, I don’t think I would ever really understand the appeal keeping of long hair,” Kakashi commented. “It’s attractive on some people but I can’t really see myself with that.”

 

“It’s a lot of work,” Sakura agreed. “Brushing and conditioning and tying it up and all that. At least it doesn’t need frequent trimming.”

 

“I don't know, it seems fun to have when I do Oiroke no Jutsu.” Naruto mused. “If I ever grow my hair out I would do all sorts of fancy stuff to it.”

 

“If we're talking about hairstyle changes, I think an undercut would suit Naruto more,” Kakashi said thoughtfully.

 

Sasuke _did not_ immediately have a mental image and _did not_ bite his lip to silence the low gasp that _was not_ about to escape.

 

“I think Naruto should shave all his hair so he stops taking so damn long in the shower,” he said instead.

 

Naruto grimaced while Kakashi and Sakura dissolved into laughter.

 

“The arms are really doing fine, right?” Sakura asked them later over umeshu.

 

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a glance and nodded.

 

“The two of you,” Kakashi began, “can move out, you know, if you’re fed up with each other. Tsunade-sama says there shouldn’t be much to worry about at this stage. I’ve even got a couple of apartment listings here with me today-”

 

“No,” Sasuke blurted out before he could stop himself.

 

When Naruto met his eyes, he looked every bit as surprised as Sasuke felt, but there was a little smile lingering at the corners of his lips.

 

“Things are fine the way they are. It’s not terrible having someone talk my ear off sometimes.”

 

“Hey!”

 

Kakashi chuckled and his eyes crinkled. “I expected Naruto to be the first one to make a fuss. You continue to surprise me, Sasuke.”

 

Sasuke would impale himself on his sword _twice_ before admitting he could not imagine living alone without Naruto at this point.

 

“I knew you liked me, Sasu-chan,” Naruto teased, leaning forward and tipping his head sideways to catch Sasuke’s gaze. “I bet you secretly love all the plants as well!”

 

“No-” Sasuke started but Sakura grinned at him and winked cheekily, while Kakashi looked on in amusement.

 

All the people whose company he enjoyed were _assholes_.

 

Well, they did say it took one to know one.

 

***

 

Freshly showered and safely back in their apartment to wind down for the night after their mission, Sasuke was scribbling the last few sentences for their mission report while Naruto rummaged in the kitchen cupboards for a late night snack.

 

“Oh god. I just can’t believe I almost died fighting that dumb rogue ninja gang and not during the War,” Naruto moaned dramatically as he settled next to Sasuke, munching away on some kind of noodle-flavoured snack.

 

Sasuke was torn between snapping at him the fifth time for being careless and finding the entire thing morbidly amusing.

 

The latter overrode his irritation.

 

“It would’ve been a waste of a perfectly good prosthetic,” he said, earning a chuckle from Naruto.

 

“Nah, it just means there’ll be a spare for you.” Naruto was grinning now.

 

“Firstly, mine isn’t as thick as yours, secondly yours it isn’t as long.”

 

“ _What_ isn’t as thick or as long?” There was the most outrageously lecherous smirk on Naruto’s face and Sasuke longed to… do _something_ to wipe it off _._

 

Naruto took one look at Sasuke’s face and started laughing so hard he almost choked on his noodle snack.

 

Sasuke exhaled partially in exasperation, partially in amusement, put down his pen and rolled up the scroll containing the report, setting it on the table next to the cups, ready to be submitted first thing in the morning.

 

“Sasuke.” Naruto’s voice was pitched a little lower. Serious. “Thanks for saving my life.”

 

The next thing Sasuke knew, he had an armful of warm, alive Uzumaki Naruto, and his mouth was barely an inch away from the smooth tanned skin that stretched between his shoulder and neck.

 

Naruto smelled like the bubblegum body wash Sakura had given them as a joke - uncaring of his scent now they were off duty. Sasuke could not care less either - he actually quite liked the smell on him, but he still pushed at Naruto’s biceps. “Get off, you smell like a diabetes disaster.”

 

Naruto’s laughter rang, soft but bright. “You smell like mouthwash. You have to suffer with me.”

 

Sasuke grunted as Naruto bowled them over to the floor, and the next thing he knew, he was on his back straddled by Naruto.

 

Time stood still as the two of them took in their positions, unable to tear their eyes off each other, bright blue bearing down onto mismatched black-and-purple.

 

Something in Sasuke urged him to reach up and slide a palm softly against Naruto’s whiskered cheek.

 

Naruto’s pupils blew twice their normal size.

 

They were so close. The tips of their noses touching, lips barely an inch apart. Sasuke could hear - no - _feel_ every little stutter in Naruto’s breaths, the way each inhale rattled on its way in and left him shakily.

 

Red-hot desire flared from the pit of his belly. There was nothing he wanted more than to close the last few centimetres, melt into Naruto and never part from him again.

 

But he let his hand fall to the floor at his side with a thud, and Naruto started enough at the dull noise to jerk away.

 

The apology tumbled unbidden from his mouth and he tried to detangle himself from Naruto, determined not to meet his eyes.

 

“It’s unlike you to apologise,” Naruto said, voice too-soft and a touch fragile, a far cry from his usual carefree cheerfulness.

 

Sasuke could not say anything, not with his heart in his throat, not when it wanted nothing more than be spat out into the palm of Naruto’s hand in the safety of their apartment, the little world of healing they had made out of it.

 

“Sasuke, I,” Naruto started, then stopped.

 

An uncomfortable silence settled over the living room.

 

“I’m going to bed,” Sasuke said quietly.

 

He rose as Naruto backed away, stood up, walked as calmly as he could to his door, opened and closed it softly. He pulled at his blanket from where it sat folded at the foot of the bed, spread it out and got under it.

 

Even as he curled up under the covers, he was horrified to see that he was hard, aroused just from being in such close proximity with Naruto.

 

When he pressed a hand roughly to it in attempt to quell it, it only reacted to the pain by stiffening further.

 

“Fuck,” he hissed into his pillow, vision blurring with hot tears. He closed his eyes only to see Naruto’s bright blue eyes staring back behind his eyelids.

 

Sasuke choked a silent sob into a balled-up fist, stared unblinking up into the bleak ceiling, his own breathing deafening in his ears as his arousal bled out of him agonisingly slowly.

 

He watched the ceiling go from navy to alabaster and realised he had not had a sleepless night alone in bed since moving into the apartment.

 

This piece of knowledge scared him more than it should have.

 

***

 

Things did not stay the same after that strange night.

 

Sasuke was more careful to keep them at a distance, and at times when Naruto thought Sasuke couldn’t see (Sasuke could always see - he had a Rinnegan for fuck’s sake) he would stare with the strangest look on his face.

 

They did not bring up the almost-kiss.

 

Sometimes the house felt far too quiet, even with the both of them there, like the silence between them had stretched and bloated to fill every corner of the apartment. When either of them had to talk, their voices sounded too-loud, too-awkward in the abrupt distance between them.

 

Sakura noticed it when she came over for a valuable medical journal an Uchiha ancestor had apparently written.

 

Naruto went to get the door, Sasuke stayed at his place at the table. Sakura went through the doorway, paused, and sighed loudly through her nose.

 

Sasuke slipped into the room to fetch the journal, and he heard her ask Naruto, none-too-quietly, “Trouble in paradise?”

 

“Paradise is dead,” Naruto moaned dramatically. “Sasuke is being an asshole again.” With cohabitation, Sasuke knew Naruto too well to know his tone was fake but his words were real. Naruto was stupid for thinking he could hide anything from him. His chest clenched with a flare of anger, but he kept his mouth shut for the while.

 

Sakura bought it though. “What is it this time? Did you forget to take out the trash again, or did he forget to water one of your plants?”

 

“Don’t even mention it, Sakura-chan. Sometimes I wish - ”

 

“The journal,” Sasuke interrupted, closing his bedroom door behind him with a sharp click.

 

“Thanks, Sasuke-kun. Was the rearranging tough? The pages were all messed up before, weren’t they?”

 

He shrugged. It was a good task to focus on to avoid Naruto. “It was fine.”

 

“If we make any breakthroughs with this, we’ll be sure to tell you!” Sakura chirped. “And you two,” she continued in a more serious tone, “better get your domestic spat sorted out as soon as possible. I’ll see both of you around!”

 

Naruto held the door open for her as she pulled her sandals on and stepped out of the flat with the journal held carefully in her arms.

 

The door’s automatic locking mechanism clicked and Sasuke rounded on Naruto.

 

“So I’m an asshole for preventing us from making a mistake now?”

 

“A mistake?” Naruto shot back. “You’re calling _that_ a mistake?”

 

“We both know it, it was the heat of the moment and nothing else,” Sasuke hissed. “Stop treating like it meant anything.”

 

Naruto’s eyes narrowed. He walked away from the doorway into the living area, throwing up his arms. “Seriously, Sasuke? If it didn’t mean anything to you why would you avoid me for what, one whole week?”

 

 _Six days and thirteen hours_ , Sasuke thought mulishly to himself. “I told you it didn’t mean anything. Just let it go already. You’re annoyingly persistent as always.”

 

“You know you suck at lying to me right?” Naruto spun on his heel to shoot a look at him, blue eyes sharp. “Would it kill you to admit you have feelings sometimes?”

 

“It was a mistake and you should know it by now,” Sasuke turned his head aside to avoid his gaze, “that’s all it meant to me.”

 

Naruto stalked up to him with purpose in every step, stopping right in front of him so their bare feet were almost touching.

 

“So it doesn’t matter? What it meant to _me_?”

 

Sasuke’s heart went straight up into his throat.

 

“Maybe,” Naruto’s voice abruptly dropped to barely above a whisper. “Maybe I wanted it to happen.”

 

A fog started to creep slowly into Sasuke’s brain. He could not, for the life of him, think properly through it. “Why would you want it to happen,” he asked in an equally quiet voice.

 

“It would be mean a lot for me.”

 

It felt as if his heart had moved from his throat and wriggled into his mouth. Sasuke did not trust himself to speak without letting everything loose.

 

“Sasuke,” Naruto started again, in the same broken whisper, staring pleadingly at him, begging him to stay and listen.

 

Oxygen left his lungs in a rush. Even in such a state of distraught, Naruto was still so breathtaking and there was nothing more Sasuke wanted than to lose himself in his warmth.

 

“I wanted it to happen, I still want it to happen, because you mean a lot to me. _We_ mean a lot to me.”

 

The fog clouded his thoughts further. How easy would it be to say _yes, I’ve wanted it too, I still want it, please, let us stay close together and -_

 

It was so tempting to simply pull Naruto in, breathe in his natural musk, close his eyes and forget the world and his sins…

 

 _My sins_.

 

“No,” Sasuke choked out.

 

Hurt and confusion contorted Naruto’s face.

 

“We can’t, Naruto.”

 

“Why?”

 

The urge to give in was overwhelming. Sasuke swallowed his emotions down with great difficulty. The corners of his vision was starting to blur hot and wet. He closed his eyes in a last ditch effort, and opened them again.

 

“You deserve better.” Sasuke felt grim satisfaction in keeping his voice miraculously steady. “Not this. Not... _me._ ”

 

 _Run_ , the voice in his head was screaming at him at the sight of Naruto’s expression. _Look what you’ve done again._ He would never deserve what Naruto had already given him and what he had just realised Naruto would give willingly. _Run run_ run run run _your sins will never be atoned for just run run run_ but his body would not move, his heart still sat precariously in his mouth at the tip of his tongue.

 

“Really?” Naruto said quietly, the pleading tone gone, replaced with frustration and what was it - hurt? _Idiot_ _Naruto,_ Sasuke was trying to protect him from - “That’s it?”

 

“I’m not saying it again.” Sasuke tried for a stronger tone, but it came out pathetically soft.

 

“What makes you think that? Why would you even - ” Naruto cut himself off as his eyes widened in understanding.

 

 _Yeah_ , Sasuke thought wryly to himself. _You see now too, don’t you? Why it’s impossible._ A third of Konoha still wanted him behind bars, half of the ninja world probably wanted him dead and his head on a silver platter.. Barely anyone understood why Naruto bothered with Sasuke in the first place. Naruto, the war hero next in line to become Hokage.

 

_And I'm-_

 

“Fuck, Sasuke, I thought we were over this.”

 

“That’s why you should _know already_ ,” Sasuke snapped anyways. “Why are you so fucking dumb?”

 

“I’m a _grown ass man_ and I can decide who and what I want! Stop it with the self deprecation, I thought we’ve already moved past this bullshit when we blasted our arms into bits! You've told me yourself before. The past might not be okay, but there’s still the future. You’re _forgiven_ !” Naruto was almost shouting now. His open palm slammed into the bookcase next to him. The mix of books and scrolls rattled in their shelves. “What the _fuck_ Sasuke, you do realise you’re allowed to want things, right?”

 

The fog was taking over the inside of his head. Sasuke could not react when Naruto paced the length of the living area twice, until he somehow found his voice when Naruto was making his third lap, his back to him.

 

“It’s not the matter of permission. It’s if _I’m worthy_.”

 

Naruto froze.

 

Silence stretched, save for the quiet drip-dropping from the tap in the kitchen into the metal basin.

 

“Uchiha Sasuke,” Naruto began slowly, not moving from where he stood rock-still. “There is nothing more I want now than to punch the sense into you again, but I don’t want to wreck our home. You’re on your own for now.”

 

Naruto pushed past him to the doorway, then came the sounds of sandals against feet, the soft clink of weapons, followed by the whoosh of the door flung open, and a conclusive, weighted slam that left Sasuke standing alone in the living area, still facing the balcony.

 

The sun was high in the sky.

 

Sasuke sat down dazedly at the low table, and realised that for all the times Naruto had chased after him tirelessly, this was the first time he was the one who had left.

 

There was moisture on his cheeks, and Sasuke related belatedly that they were tears when he tasted salt on his lips. His eyesight blurred as he raised his head to survey the - _their_ \- apartment, and he had to blink to clear his vision.

 

The balcony filled with Naruto’s plants, the bird frighteners Sasuke had made swaying softly above them, the bookcase filled with books belonging to both of them, his sword propped against the weapon rack they shared, and he knew, their unwashed clothing in a mixed pile inside the laundry basket, Naruto’s oranges with Sasuke’s purples and blues; their toothbrushes in the old chipped green mug, one orange, one blue.

 

In the nine months they had been cohabiting the flat, they had already filled the place up with their own touches, little things that made it belong to Naruto and Sasuke.

 

All of this, so full and so beautiful, and Sasuke was already surrounded by it, everything already within hand’s reach, inside and around him, waiting for him to come to realise it and treasure and for the third time of his life (the first time being betrayed by Itachi, the second time getting the shit beaten out of him at the Valley of the End by Naruto), he felt like the dumbest - and this time the most ungrateful - son of a bitch in the entire world.

 

Sasuke buried his face into his hands and cried and cried and cried and wanted and wanted and wanted and somewhere between all of that, allowed himself to want.

 

***

 

Naruto did not come home that night.

 

Sasuke lay restless and alone in bed in the night, until he went to take one of Naruto’s unwashed sleep shirts from the laundry basket to curl up with.

 

It did not change the fact that he could not hear Naruto’s steady breathing in the other bedroom, but his half-faded scent was better than nothing.

 

***

 

Naruto stayed gone the next day.

 

Sasuke checked the duty roster and saw that Naruto had taken a solo mission all the way in the Land of Tea. He wondered if he should go after him at this point, but decided against it.

 

***

 

On the third day, Sasuke broke two wooden pillars out of five in one of the training grounds. He ate out alone that night because cooking by himself for himself felt strange.

 

***

 

A week passed, then a message came into Konoha requesting urgent backup on Naruto’s solo mission.

 

Sasuke grabbed his equipment, leapt down from the balcony and ran out of Konoha.

 

***

 

“Extreme exhaustion,” the medic they had stopped by on the way back had told Sasuke, who had been carrying a Naruto that seemed pretty much dead to the world. “Just let him sleep it off and he’ll be right as rain.”

 

Naruto had woken a couple of times on their way back riding Taka, but had been compliant about drinking water, eating pieces of ration bar and went straight back to sleep afterwards.

 

He stayed asleep when Sasuke dismissed the giant hawk and carried him up the stairs of their building and into the apartment, dismantling their traps single-handedly. He walked past the kitchen, the living room, and nudged Naruto’s bedroom door open with a foot, pausing to look at the giant Ichiraku poster he had put on the wall over his drawers before laying Naruto onto the bed.

 

Sasuke crouched to study the relaxed line of Naruto’s lips, his dark golden lashes and his wind-ruffled hair. Tentatively, he reached out to put the gold spikes back into order when Naruto shifted slightly on the sheets.

 

“We’re home?” Naruto asked in a quiet, gravelly voice.

 

“We are,” Sasuke said softly. _Home._

 

“You took us back?”

 

“Yes. Go back to sleep.”

 

“Mmm.” And he was out again like a light.

 

Leaving Naruto’s bedroom, Sasuke went to the kitchen to check on their supplies.

 

Just enough to make miso soup.

 

He lost himself in the food preparation, methodically cutting up the tofu and green onion while the seaweed soaked in a bowl, then going about boiling and mixing the dashi and miso, taking taking his time with each step.

 

_Don’t be a coward and run again. Stop wasting time._

 

When he finally walked out from the kitchen with a bowl of hot miso soup, Naruto was crouched at the balcony, looking over the plants.

 

When Sasuke set the bowl of soup at the low table, Naruto came over, sat down, cradled the warm bowl in his hands, mumbled a “thanks for the food” and began to drink.

 

Sasuke was at a sudden loss of how to deal with the situation. He settled with watching the familiar shifting of lines at Naruto’s throat as he swallowed.

 

Finishing the soup after what felt like an eternity, Naruto put down the bowl with a soft clink and turned around in his spot to look at the houseplants once more.

 

Then Naruto cleared his throat, startling Sasuke for a brief moment. “Thanks for making soup for me.”

 

“Hn.”

 

“I never thought there would be a time where you came after me instead “

 

Sasuke had no idea what he was supposed to say.

 

Naruto exhaled audibly and turned back towards the plants with an air of resignation. “You’re really an idiot when it comes to these things, you know.”

 

Sasuke continued to stand there in his apron and house slippers. His chest felt so tight he could hardly breathe.

 

“Naruto.” His name wobbled in his throat.

 

Naruto stopped moving.

 

No backing out now.

 

“I've never wanted anything more in my entire life. I've been…”

 

The words would not come out, so he moved instead, feeling like he was in a trance, walked right up to the balcony doors.

 

Naruto stood up and turned around to face him the moment he stopped moving, blue eyes too-bright, weary, but hopeful.

 

Words proved themselves insufficient and inefficient.

 

Sasuke crossed the living room and pressed his forehead to Naruto’s.

 

The next thing he knew, Naruto’s arms were around his neck and his lips were dry, warm and soft against his.

 

They parted, breathing unsteady, Sasuke drowning in Naruto’s bright eyes and heady taste.

 

They closed the distance between them again, inexplicably drawn to each other as if there was some unknown cosmic force at work. Well. Naruto was pretty much a force of nature by his own rights.

 

Sasuke dared to open his mouth and run his tongue along the seam of Naruto’s lips.

 

A low moan escaped Naruto, then their tongues were rubbing together, soft, slick and intoxicatingly silky.

 

Suddenly there was salt between their lips and he drew back, realising that there were tears rolling down Naruto’s cheeks.

 

“What are you crying for,” he asked quietly, brushing the moisture away with the gentlest touch he could manage with trembling, awkward hands.

 

“What are _you_ crying for?” Naruto retorted wetly, reaching to wipe at Sasuke’s face with a sleeve. “Stupid pretty bastard, I've wanted this for _so long_. I was starting to think it was one-sided but ah-”

 

Sasuke cut him off with another kiss. Naruto was simply addictive, there was no other possible explanation. “It is impossible to resist you,” he told him with every ounce of honesty in him.

 

"How are you so smooth right now,” Naruto asked with a watery chuckle.

 

“Must be you rubbing off me.”

 

“Yeah, you've been slightly less anal retentive.”

 

They stood, wrapped up in each other for a few quiet minutes, just basking in the moment.

 

“You’re really too good,” Sasuke said softly.

 

“Has it still not gone through you thick skull that I honestly think you're already more than good enough for me?” Naruto huffed, butting Sasuke in the head gently with his own.

 

“Give me a little more time, I’ve been self-deprecating for far too long.” Sasuke sighed.

 

“He admits it!”

 

“Shut up,” Sasuke said without bite.

 

Naruto grinned. “Make me!”

 

Sasuke leaned in again and did just that.

 

***

 

Sasuke’s favourite kisses were the kind that got wet and deep and Naruto would just graze the edges of his teeth against his tongue. Luckily (blessedly), Naruto was always more than happy to comply.

 

***

 

Sasuke stirred awake when his bedroom door clicked open, drowsiness leaving him as his instincts took over. He kept his eyes closed and began to reach for the kunai under his pillow, then a familiar voice whispered at the doorway, “It’s okay, it’s just me.”

 

“Naruto?” Sasuke opened his eyes, noting the room was still dark, and Naruto was still in his sleep shirt and pants. He sat up in bed and blinked the grit out of his eyes. “What are you doing?”

 

“N-nothing, just…”

 

“Just say it.”

 

“I just had to check.”

 

Sasuke tipped his head, prompting him to continue.

 

Rubbing the back of his neck a little sheepishly, Naruto looked away towards the blank wall, the upper half of his face darkening from the shadows. “That you’re still here. That this is all real.”

 

 _Ah_.

 

Sasuke lifted the blanket in silent invitation, then there was a very warm, very blond jinchuuriki burrowing his way into the covers to lie down next to him.

 

There was a moment of silence as Naruto shuffled around to get comfortable. They were two fully-grown male ninja after all, and the single bed was only so big.

 

“I had a dream,” Naruto began, “that this was all a dream and I’m just trapped in Infinite Tsukuyomi and that none of this is real. I’ve been so happy and it all seems too good to be _real_.”

 

“This is real.”

 

“I know,” Naruto sighed, and Sasuke fought the urge to pull Naruto into his arms, until he remembered he was _allowed_ to, then moved to curl his body around Naruto’s, tentatively resting his forehead against his back, and Naruto hummed softly in satisfaction.

 

“Don’t think too much. We have the mission tomorrow.”

 

“I’m actually looking forward to it,” Naruto said thoughtfully. “I’ve never been to Getsugakure.”

 

“I went once.”

 

“Ehh, you’ve been? And you never mentioned it?”

 

“Sorry,” Sasuke muttered. “The opportunity never came up.”

 

“Tell me, tell me!”

 

And thus Sasuke began his narration of the time Orochimaru had him run his errand for him.

 

It was a little funny, how they spent most of their childhood being jealous of each other, squabbling and arguing over little things, then fighting and destroying each other for the _stupidest_ things, yet now they had been cohabiting an apartment for almost a year without wrecking it, lying curled up into each other sharing warmth, talking simply for the joy of talking, simply enjoying the company.

 

***

 

Occasionally, they would get the spare futons, lay them out in front of the balcony and sleep together in the leaf-dappled moonlight.

 

Without fail Sasuke would wake on those mornings and find them either holding hands or one of them nestled into the other’s neck, having gravitated towards each other in their sleep.

 

It was something he could get used to.

 

***

 

Naruto forgot his clothes during his bath.

 

When Sasuke came into the bathroom with his faded orange shirt and ugly narutomaki boxers, he let himself stare openly, eyes tracing the expanse of smooth tanned skin and the ripple of muscles underneath. His felt his mouth go dry and could not help but lick his lips.

 

“Like what you see?” Naruto shot him a little smirk.

 

“Not too bad, I guess,” Sasuke shrugged. He steeled himself. “Would probably look better without that towel.” He inclined his head towards the tiny white towel that Naruto had wrapped around his waist, which slipped lower and lower with each miniscule movement he made, delightfully exposing millimeter after millimeter of toned stomach. Sasuke could see the whole seal pattern already. Just a little lower and he would be able to...

 

Naruto’s laughter rang soft but clear, bouncing against the tiles of their bathroom. “Didn’t know you had it in you to admit it. Give me my underwear so I can get rid of the towel.”

 

Sasuke threw the clothes at him, and smirked when the towel fluttered off as Naruto tripped over his own feet trying to catch them.

 

***

 

It was almost frighteningly easy to fall in bed together.

 

Naruto was smelling like bubblegum again, lounging on the living room floor right in front of the space heater in only his ugly narutomaki boxers, going through the report of their latest mission.

 

The contours of his chest and stomach were highlighted by sunset coming in from the balcony windows, blond hair damp and pushed back, a full bottom lip in between his teeth.

 

Sasuke exited the bathroom in nothing but his towel to this sight and lost all of his painfully-maintained self-control.

 

He pushed the report aside, lay down next to Naruto and proceeded to kiss them breathless.

 

“Oh, hello,” Naruto said, giving him a sly grin. “Is there something you want?”

 

Sasuke replied by braving a touch on Naruto’s left chest.

 

His heartbeat was going through the roof.

 

 _Oh_.

 

“Yes…?”

 

“Yes yes _yes_ a million times yes-” Naruto gasped, and then Sasuke was lifted into Naruto’s arms as if he weighed nothing, and carried off into his own room like a glorified sack of potatoes.

 

Sasuke’s breath left him in a _whoosh_ when Naruto deposited him onto the bed. 

 

The towel Sasuke had wrapped around his waist had come loose at some point and was thrown off to the side by Naruto. His cock sprung up embarrassingly stiff and red, but Naruto did not seem to find it off-putting. He simply leaned down to kiss him again, wet and deep with a hint of teeth on Sasuke’s tongue - the way they liked it best.

 

Sasuke was certain that he was flushing all the way down his neck, and he saw that Naruto was no better than he was when they drew back to breathe. His tan chest was splotchy with colour, and his whiskered cheeks were so red they were the shade of tomatoes.

 

_Cute._

 

Reaching out, he pulled Naruto’s boxers down to expose his erection, which bobbed slightly from the jostling. It was darker than his and around an inch shorter, but visibly thicker in girth. Precome was already beading at the slit and Sasuke was almost overcome with the urge to lick at it.

 

He wanted to do _so many_ things to it in _so many_ ways but for now, he let his fingers skim lightly up and down the length of it a few times, marvelling at the hot silkiness of it, before sliding farther back to touch Naruto’s entrance.

 

Sasuke stared up at Naruto. _Is this okay?_

 

Naruto gave him the most devastatingly beautiful look - brilliant blue eyes half-shut, pupils completely blown, dark golden lashes clumped together from sweat and colour running high on his cheeks. He was delightfully debauched and _mine mine mine._ “Please.” The word escaped from kiss-swollen lips as a bare whisper.

 

They fumbled through the preparation, struggling to open the lube bottle with sweaty hands, Naruto giggling and Sasuke snorting when air pressure made way too much lube spurt out with a loud farting sound.

 

Naruto giggled and squirmed more when the cold lube made contact with his entrance, but his laughter broke off into a long breathless moan when Sasuke stretched him out with one hesitant hand, the other feeling as if it was glued to the small of his back.

 

When Naruto lowered himself onto Sasuke’s cock, his fingers curled into Sasuke nape, pulling at the shorter hairs there, and Sasuke was enveloped by his tight, slick warmth. The wobbly sigh that single movement managed to elicit from Naruto was simply divine.

 

_Addictive._

 

Raising his hips experimentally, Naruto bore down again, the sleek muscles on his thighs and stomach rippling mesmerisingly beneath his skin. He repeated the motion again and again, the sounds escaping him high and needy.

 

Sasuke snapped.

 

All logical thought was lost as he flipped their positions over, pushing Naruto down into his sheets, and something inside him admired how good Naruto looked in his bed, flushed down to his pert nipples, legs parted for him, cock hot, hard and leaking precome all over the seal on his tanned stomach.

 

Sasuke hitched Naruto’s right leg over his shoulder, the last of his rationality went to making sure Naruto looked comfortable where he was, then he was gone, mind narrowed down to the motions of pushing in and pulling back. When Naruto cried out even more enthusiastically than he already was, he kept at the angle, making each movement as fast and as deep as their bodies would allow.

 

Naruto’s hot hardness brushed against his own stomach with every thrust, causing unbidden shudders to run through him. The sounds of skin slapping against skin were obscene but oddly satisfying, until everything faded into white noise when Naruto grabbed him from the back of his neck, fingers tangling roughly back into that patch of shorter hairs as he pulled him in for another open-mouthed kiss.

 

Among all the other pleasurable sensations, Sasuke felt his bottom lip taken in between Naruto’s teeth, and then pain was blooming, and knowing Naruto was the one biting down on him, turned into a burning pleasure.

 

Pressure grew white-hot in his abdomen, Sasuke could barely choke out a moan before he was hurled across the edge, spilling inside Naruto with a spasm.

 

Naruto’s release followed in no time, stripping his own stomach and Sasuke’s lower body with white. A bit of it hit Sasuke’s chin, making him jolt out of his post-coital bliss to stare slightly judgmentally at Naruto, who started laughing again before reaching out to wipe it off with the back of his hand.

 

That evening, they joined their bodies again and again until their stomachs growled in protest. Naruto playfully shoved Sasuke out of bed so he could make them tomato and egg on top of instant ramen with the last of their groceries.

 

***

 

Sometimes, Naruto fucked Sasuke instead.

 

He would die before admitting he liked it much more than he let on.

 

***

 

Somewhere between all of the sex they had been having, they took to squeezing themselves into Sasuke’s tiny single bed every night they could so they could wake up next to each other the next morning.

 

That night was one of those nights, and Sasuke started awake just before dawn when he sensed Naruto leaving the warm bed.

 

“Sorry, sorry. Just going to the toilet.”

 

Sasuke hummed his acknowledgement and waited for the telltale click of the bathroom door, the whisper of toilet paper and the sounds of flushing water.

 

Naruto slid back into bed soon enough and they curled up around each other again, inhaling and exhaling in tandem for a few minutes, saying nothing but not going back to sleep.

 

Then Naruto spoke. “Hey, Sasuke.”

 

“Hn?”

 

There was shuffling on his right as Naruto shifted in bed to look at him, eyes luminous in the dim light.

 

“Are you happy?”

 

Sasuke exhaled in amusement and closed his eyes to resist the urge to roll them. “What a stupid question.”

 

“Hey, I’m serious!”

 

“I haven’t finished, impatient idiot.” He flicked Naruto in the forehead and waited until he had finished fake-whining in pain before continuing, heart stuttering in his chest (what the hell was he so nervous for? They had sex on a regular basis for crying out loud!).

 

“I have never been happier my entire life.”

 

“Thank you for being honest with me,” Naruto said softly. His hand came up from under the sheets to slide Sasuke’s right cheek, and he automatically leaned into the touch.

 

They fell silent for another few minutes, simply basking in the moment.

 

“Naruto,” he began.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I don’t think I’ve told you properly, but I really like you.” His face felt like it was turning fifty shades of red, and he turned away to hide into the pillow.

 

“It’s okay. I already know every time you water the plants for me and make me a new bird frightener and fight our enemies back to back with me and try out new recipes with me. And of course every time we cuddle and have sex and let me kiss you even though we both have morning breath. I really, really like you too.”

 

Arms - one flesh, one prosthetic - snaked around his waist to pull him close. Sasuke sighed softly in appreciation when his entire back was enveloped in warmth. Naruto was like his personal heater in winter - warm and firm but soft enough in all the right places.

 

“I’ve always liked your smile. Since we were kids.”

 

“Really? I always thought you have really nice skin. It’s super smooth!” Behind him, Naruto had buried his face into the crook between his neck and shoulder as if to prove his point.

 

“Your voice. Especially your laugh,” Sasuke admitted.

 

“Your eyelashes!”

 

“Well, you’re one of the few people who really understand me.”

 

Naruto hummed. “You too.”

 

“Your occasional clumsiness.” _It’s an endearing quality._

 

“Hey!” Naruto butted at him with his head. “Well, your occasional assholery is pretty attractive.”

 

Sasuke turned back over to face him so he could shoot him a flat look.

 

“Why did you think I fell for you? Your cheerful attitude and positive outlook on life?”

 

“I’ll leave those to you, thanks.”

 

The laugh Sasuke loved so much rang bright and clear in the tiny room.

 

“Naruto,” he started again. “Do you ever think about the apartment?”

 

“All the time, why?”

 

“What if we moved to a new place?”

 

“Like with a bigger bedroom and maybe a bigger kitchen?” Naruto really always understood him more than anyone else.

 

“Nn,” Sasuke hummed in affirmation.

 

“Well. This flat _is_ a little too small.”

 

“But you like this place. And we’ve been-”

 

“You’re being stupid again,” Naruto cut in, voice quiet and serious but full of affection. “I love every meter square of this apartment, but I honestly couldn’t care less about where we end up going. My address is Uchiha Sasuke. Home is with _you_.”

 

Sasuke smiled, closed his eyes against the first rays of dawn and rested his forehead against Naruto’s. “What a coincidence, mine is Uzumaki Naruto.”

 

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“So this is it.”

 

“I guess these last two years of saving up really _paid off_.”

 

Sasuke ignored Naruto pointedly just for that and carried the last box to the front door.

 

“I can't wait to start living inside,” Naruto sighed dreamily.

 

“A bigger kitchen,” Sasuke agreed.

 

“A whole garden!”

 

“A bigger bedroom.”

 

“Yeah. And maybe we’ll have enough room for one or two or three cats?”

 

“... one only.”

 

“But Sasuke, it’ll get lonely when we’re off on our missions.” Naruto was smiling softly at his side, surveying the sun-drenched house with glimmering eyes.

 

Sasuke squeezed his hand with his own. “Two it is.”

 

“Maybe they’ll make little kittens too.”

 

Sasuke rolled his eyes but could not help the smile that was finding its way onto his own face. “Yeah, maybe.”

 

And they crossed the threshold together.

 

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**Omake: when they were still pining hopelessly for each other**

 

“But Kurama, isn't he just the most attractive asshole ever? No one understands me like he does and I want to spend the rest of my life- ”

 

 _Please just shut up about Uchiha I’m really tired hearing about him all the time it was bad enough when you were chasing after him wanting him to come back to Konoha and now you moved in together I thought I’d finally get some peace and quiet but_ no _your pining just gets worse because he’s right there but your gay ass just doesn’t have the guts to say anything to him! So how would he ever know the extent of your feelings? Watching you two interact daily is just like watching a bad romance drama!_

 

“I’m sorry!”

 

_For God’s sake._

 

“But listen Kurama I’m not even sure if he likes me that way-”

 

_Naruto!_

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> please validate me with kudos and comments


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